31: Desperate Shen Lin

The next day, in the most luxurious suite of Shan City's top club.

Chen Cong leaned back on the leather sofa, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. On the tablet in front of him was a newly received document.

The young man in the photo was the unappreciative delivery driver from last night.

Shen Lin.

Twenty-three years old, an orphan.

Below that was a small line of text.

Sister: Shen Miao, eighteen years old, an orphan.

"Heh."

Chen Cong chuckled softly and tossed the tablet aside.

"It's really a tragic tale of two people depending on each other."

Beside him, a bodyguard in a black suit bowed his head and said, "Young Master Cong, regarding last night's incident, the other party only followed standard procedures and didn't escalate it. What do you think..."

"Procedures?"

Chen Cong suddenly sat up straight, banging his wine glass heavily on the table.

"Damn it, how dare a stinking bug like him, a delivery driver, make me follow procedures?"

"Is he worthy?"

Chen Cong stood up and paced back and forth in the room, his facial muscles twitching with anger.

"I should have just run him over yesterday!"

"Call the police? Does he think calling the police is useful? Does he think this is about reasoning with him?"

"In this Shan City, I, Chen Cong, am the reason!"

He stopped pacing and turned to look at the bodyguard.

"Ah Long, Ah Hu, follow me."

The bodyguard Ah Long hesitated for a moment.

"Young Master Cong, for such a small matter, there's no need for you to personally..."

"Shut up!"

Chen Cong kicked the coffee table, and the glass top shattered with a crash.

"I'm going there personally today!"

"I want him to know what happens when he provokes me!"

"I want him to kneel on the ground and lick clean that mouth of his that called the police!"

...In the dilapidated tenement building, the hallway was cluttered with sundries, and the air was filled with a mix of dampness and cooking oil smells.

Shen Lin had just bought the cheapest instant noodles with the money he had left from last night, preparing to make do for lunch.

His elbows and knees were still throbbing, but what bothered him more was the damaged electric scooter and the deducted performance bonus.

This month would be tough again.

"Bang!"

A loud noise.

The thin wooden door was kicked open from the outside, and the door panel hit the wall with a mournful creak.

Shen Lin sharply turned his head.

Three men blocked the doorway. The one in the lead was precisely the rich second generation from last night, Chen Cong, reeking of alcohol.

Behind him stood two mountain-like bodyguards in black suits.

Chen Cong walked in slowly, hands in his pockets, and kicked an empty instant noodle cup on the floor with his toe, frowning in disgust.

"Tsk tsk tsk, living in such a dog's den, huh?"

He surveyed the rental room, less than ten square meters, with undisguised disdain on his face.

"Shen Lin, right?"

Shen Lin clenched his fists, his body tensed, watching them warily.

"What do you want?"

"What do I want?"

Chen Cong smiled. He walked up to Shen Lin, extended his hand, and patted his face.

"What do you think I want?"

"Yesterday at the police station, weren't you quite articulate?"

"Didn't you even dare to report me to the police?"

"What, speechless now?"

Shen Lin turned his head, dodging his hand.

"Drunk driving and hitting someone, was I wrong to call the police?"

"Wrong?"

Chen Cong's expression instantly turned grim. He immediately slapped Shen Lin hard across the face.

"Slap!"

A crisp sound echoed in the small room.

Shen Lin staggered from the blow, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

"I'll tell you what's wrong!"

Chen Cong pointed at his nose and roared arrogantly.

"In this place, making me unhappy is your biggest mistake!"

"You stinking delivery driver, who gave you the guts to challenge my rules?!"

Shen Lin wiped the blood from his mouth, saying nothing, only looking at him with a stubborn defiance.

This silence completely enraged Chen Cong.

"Still daring to glare at me?"

"Ah Long! Ah Hu! Pin him down for me!"

The two bodyguards immediately stepped forward, one on each side, seizing Shen Lin's arms like they were grabbing a chick, pressing him firmly to the ground.

Shen Lin struggled fiercely, but his strength was negligible in front of two professional bodyguards.

His face was pressed heavily against the cold concrete floor.

"Damn it!"

Chen Cong kicked Shen Lin in the stomach.

Shen Lin grunted, his body curling into a ball.

The beating began.

Fists and feet rained down on his back, legs, and every part of his body.

Shen Lin gritted his teeth, not making a sound.

The more he resisted, the more irritable Chen Cong became.

"Damn it! Still got a hard head!"

Chen Cong gasped for breath and stopped.

He saw a heavy ceramic ornament, a chubby doll, placed in the corner, seemingly picked up from somewhere.

He walked over, picked it up, and weighed it in his hand.

Then, he squatted down, grabbed Shen Lin's hair, and pulled him up from the ground.

"Kid, I heard you and your sister depend on each other, huh?"

Shen Lin's body trembled violently when he heard the words "sister."

"Don't you dare touch her!"

"Oh? Getting agitated?"

Chen Cong's smile became even more cruel.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in your sister who's still in school."

"I just want to teach you how to be a person."

He ordered the two bodyguards.

"Pin his right hand to the ground for me! Pin it down hard!"

The bodyguards immediately complied, pressing Shen Lin's right hand firmly against the floor.

Shen Lin instantly understood what the other party intended to do and began to struggle frantically.

"Let go of me! What are you going to do! Let go!"

"What am I going to do?"

Chen Cong raised the ceramic ornament in his hand, aiming it at Shen Lin's hand, which was bulging with veins from exertion.

"Don't you like to use this hand to call the police?"

"Don't you earn money delivering food with this hand?"

"Today, I'm going to cripple it!"

As his words fell.

He used all his strength to smash the heavy ornament down!

"Crack!"

The sound of bones shattering was chillingly clear.

"Ah—!"

A scream so piercingly inhumane erupted from Shen Lin's throat.

Excruciating pain, like a tidal wave, instantly engulfed all his nerves.

His vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

Chen Cong threw away the blood-stained fragments of the ornament, stood up, and looked down at the unconscious Shen Lin, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Let's go."

He adjusted his collar and, with his two bodyguards, left the messy room.

As if he had merely stepped on an annoying ant.

After an unknown amount of time.

Shen Lin slowly regained consciousness in a surge of intense pain.

He lay on the cold floor, the entire room spinning.

His right hand no longer felt like his own; only a numb, agonizing pain remained.

He struggled to prop himself up and saw his hand.

His fingers were twisted at a grotesque angle, bloody and mangled.

"Buzz... buzz..."

His phone vibrated nearby.

He used his left hand, enduring the severe pain, to crawl over and pick up the phone.

On the screen, two words flickered.

Miaomiao.

He stared at the name, and his eyes instantly reddened.

He took a few deep breaths and, with trembling fingers, swiped to answer the call.

He kept his voice as steady as possible.

"Hello, Miaomiao."

From the other end of the phone came his sister's clear yet worried voice.

"Brother! What's wrong with you? I messaged you, and you didn't reply for ages, and you're not answering your calls! Did something happen to you?"

"No... nothing."

Every word Shen Lin spoke seemed to drain all his strength.

"Just now... just now, I was delivering food and accidentally fell."

"Ah? Is it serious? Did you go to the hospital?"

"Not serious, it's just... just twisted my waist a bit, minor thing, I'll be fine after a couple of days' rest."

He lied, his forehead covered in cold sweat, his lips bloodless from the pain.

"Brother, don't lie to me, your voice sounds so weak! Are you in a lot of pain?"

"No pain, really no pain."

Shen Lin squeezed his thigh hard with his left hand, trying to distract himself with pain from another spot.

"What's a twisted waist to a big man like me?"

"You... you just focus on school, don't worry about me. Do you have enough money? If not, I'll send you more."

"Enough, enough! Brother, stop sending me money all the time! You need to take good care of yourself!"

"Got it, you're so naggy. Go study now, I... I'm going to lie down for a bit."

"Alright then, Brother, you must rest well, and if you feel unwell, go to the hospital!"

"Mm."

He hung up the phone.

Silence returned to the rental room.

Shen Lin looked at his completely ruined right hand, at the mess in the room.

He couldn't hold on any longer.

He clutched his head, burying his face in his knees.

Suppressed, desperate sobs squeezed out from deep within his throat, eventually turning into heart-wrenching wails.